In the 2021 speech season, Argo’s Speech team consisted of 6 students. At the end of the 2022 season, the speech coaches—Mr. David Hernandez, Ms. Jennifer Gutierrez, and Ms. Alexia Walls—ended up with 19 students in total, including one spectator.

The team had its first competition at Homewood Flossmoor High School in October.

None of the students knew each other, but over time grew together to form a strong, supportive team. At the end of the day, socials were shared, connections were made, and they came home with four wins. 

Before their last competition, Argo’s Speech team had to go through regionals. They played puzzles and games, did photoshoots, and spent 14 working hours until they could find out if they broke into sectionals. At the award ceremony, they congratulated their teammates and hoped for the best. Out of the 11 entries, 4 made it: Justine Madgett & Madison Johnson, Aaron Lopez, Katherine Madrigal, and Minna Sulieman. This was a new record for Argo Community High School for the first time in years.

Even though the other 7 entries didn’t technically win, they did win. In the words of Ms. Gutierrez, “When one of us wins, we all win.” 

The last competition, sectionals, was held at Hinsdale Central on February 11, 2023. Aaron Lopez broke into finals for Original Oratory (OO). All the Argo students who came to sectionals watched Aaron perform along with 5 other students.  

At the end of the day, they spent 11 hours at the high school.

None of them made it. It was one of the hardest things they had to accept as a team, but that didn’t get them down. The bus ride after the award ceremony was full of conversations and laughter.

They have had over 50 victories just this season. Aaron Lopez had the most wins in the team with an all-time record of 9 breaks.

The team held their first ever showcase in February, marking history for Argo Community High School. 

They will be holding a summer camp on June 9th, 10th, 16th and 17th if students are interested. 

The Argo Speech team hopes to come back stronger than ever in Fall of 2023. 

Congratulations: 

Justine Madgett 

Aaron Lopez  

Viridiana Sanchez 

Hugo Sanchez  

Destiny Christmas 

Madison Johnson 

Alexandria Glazer 

Minna Sulieman 

Fatima Suhail 

America Ginez 

Katherine Madrigal 

Natalia Stanibula 

Jaylen Perez 

Katherine Madrigal 

Alicia Ojeda  

Symone Leak 

Mia Gutierrez  

Magali Garcia  

Alexandra Zepeda  

Thank you! 

Ms. Jennifer Gutierrez 

Mr. David Hernandez  

Ms. Alexia Walls